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A Columbus police lieutenant is on desk duty after an internal-affairs investigation showed that
he had falsified nine overtime slips last year.

Lt. Troy Casner of the narcotics bureau was told on Wednesday to turn in his badge, gun and
other equipment while he awaits a decision on discipline.

An internal-affairs investigator determined that Casner submitted nine false overtime slips in
August and September. The investigation also found that on five occasions, Casner said he was
supervising a narcotics investigation when he wasn’t at the scene.

Casner, 46, was paid $46.07 an hour last year. He was hired by the city in 1989.

The investigation began when a sergeant submitted a letter to Police Chief Kim Jacobs on Sept.
21 that questioned three overtime slips.

The investigator reviewed the previous 60 days of overtime slips that Casner submitted. On the
falsified slips, times ranged from 90 minutes to nine hours of claimed overtime.

On five of the same dates, Casner failed to supervise narcotics operations that included
undercover drug deals, busts and significant seizures of cash and drugs, the investigator
found.

On most of those occasions, officers at the scene said they had no communication with the
lieutenant.

“It is unreasonable to believe that a lieutenant would put ‘supervise surveillance’ (on the
slips) ... and not even be in the area of the operation,” wrote Sgt. Timothy Shockcor, the
investigator.

Casner told investigators that he was in the office or driving around on the days in question.
He didn’t communicate with officers at the scene in part because he didn’t have access to the radio
they were using. He called it “semantics” when he wrote “supervise.”

“I think that’s been taken out of context more than once ... the way I’m meaning it when I write
it is to overseeing the whole operation of the day,” he told the investigator.Shockcor also noted
that on Sept. 17, Casner didn’t take advantage of flexible work hours to attend a planned event and
submitted an unnecessary overtime slip for five hours.

Casner will have a hearing in front of Jacobs, who will make the final decision on discipline,
said Officer Jason Pappas, president of Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9.

The union represented Casner during the internal-affairs investigation. The union does not
present evidence on behalf of members but ensures that they receive a fair and impartial hearing,
Pappas said.